A story filed by David Monti of Race Results Weekly, covering the World Championships for The Register-Guard:

DAEGU, South Korea — Oregon Track Club Elite’s Jesse Williams became the first American man in 20 years to win a world high jump title here on Thursday night when he sailed over the bar at 7 feet, 8 1/2 inches in the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Daegu Stadium.

Russia’s Aleksey Dmitrik achieved the same height as the Eugene high jumper, 2.35 meters, but was relegated to the silver medal position because Williams had no misses up to that height and Dmitrik had three. Both men failed on their three attempts at the final height, 7-9 &frac14; (2.37 meters).

“It felt great,” Williams said after getting a hug from University of Oregon director of track and field, Vin Lananna, the head men’s coach for the American team here. “I was in the zone the entire time, and I knew if I could just execute my plan I would be able to win, and I did.”

Williams, 27, put together a remarkably clean series of jumps to clinch the title. On his opening height of 7-2 1/2 (2.20 meters ), he approached the bar from the left, planted his left foot and exploded over the bar, clearing it by several inches. He was then perfect at the next four heights, putting pressure on both Dmitrik and his Russian teammate Ivan Ukhov, the 2010 world indoor champion. Williams said he did not watch any of his competitors jump so he could concentrate on his own performance.

Seven jumpers made it to the penultimate height of 7-8 1/2 (2.35 meters), and five missed three times, including Ukhov.

That left Williams and Dmitrik alone in the competition to decide gold and silver; neither jumper cleared the final height of 7-9 &frac14;, with Williams assured of the gold only when Dmitrik missed for the third time.

“I knew it was down to me and Dmitrik at the end, and I saw all of his jumps, believe me,” Williams said.

Williams, who grew up in Raleigh, N.C., and who also wrestled in high school, is the third athlete from Eugene’s Oregon Track Club Elite to win a medal here so far. Sally Kipyego won a silver medal in the 10,000 meters and Ashton Eaton won the silver in the decathlon. Lananna, the force behind the creation of OTC Elite, credited the support that the program received from both its corporate patron, Nike, and the people of Eugene for its success.

“It was a dream that we had to put together a great University of Oregon track and field program, a great series of events — a la the Olympic Trials — and a great post-collegiate program where people who want to be really good and who think about being great at the world stage want to come, live and train,” Lananna said.

“You know, that Track Town thing is a real thing. It’s real.”

Ironically, Lananna said he was reluctant to take a jumper into the OTC Elite program, which was originally designed to emphasize middle and long distance running. Williams laughed when he was reminded of that.

“Well, I’m a persistent guy,” Williams said. “I think he’s not really regretting that decision now. It shows that it is the best elite club in the world. There are really no other clubs like the Oregon Track Club. To bring back a gold medal, Eugene is really going to embrace it. I’m really excited about going back home.”

Williams said that his family had watched the competition from home, but that his father David, who suffered a stroke while traveling overseas recently, may not have been able to watch from the hospital bed in the Philippines where he was recovering.

“I’m not sure (if he was able to watch),” Williams said. “He’s waiting for my call.”

Also on Thursday night, the University of Oregon’s Matthew Centrowitz ran a brilliant race in the men’s 1,500-meter semi-finals, controlling the pace from the front, and winning his heat in an energy-saving 3:46.66. Centrowitz, the American 1500-meter champion who will be a senior at Oregon in the fall, is the only American to make it to Saturday night’s final.

“You know, it was tough, but I felt better than I did in the first round so that’s going to bode well for the final,” said Centrowitz, who had to make a deft move late in the race to avoid being boxed in. He continued: “(I saw) a small crack; I just had to make a little surge to cover that move.”

Centrowitz, 21, said he gained some inspiration from his Oregon teammate, Michael Berry, who ran the fastest split of the day here, 43.83 seconds, during the 4×400 meter relay qualifying.

“I asked Mike if he could come out here and close this last 400 meters for me,” Centrowitz joked. “I don’t think you’re allowed to do that.”